Pursuing a Deeper Relationship with Jesus

and Christian Epistemology

Question #1: Dr. Luginbill, I was hoping you might have some resources, or
recommendations on pursuing a "Deeper relationship with God". I need
more that brings me closer. I think I am missing a lot!

Response #1: This is a good question, but one that doesn't have a simple answer
(or maybe the answer is too simple). I try to address the process of
spiritual growth, of deepening our relationship with the Lord, in
everything I write. It is a subject which is always on my mind, and I am
pleased to hear that it is of great importance to you as well. To begin
with, you might have a look at some things I have already posted (if you
have not already done so):

The fact is that as believers in Jesus Christ, He is our life, and we
are in Him and of Him from the point of faith forevermore! Appreciating
and exploiting that relationship is why we are still here on this earth
after salvation. Our purpose is indeed to grow closer to Him and to help
others do the same, that is to love Him with all our heart and to love
one another as He has showed us. This is a full-time, "all-time" job.
None of us will ever do it perfectly, but all of us can do it better
than we are doing it. This is one of those things in which there will
always be room for improvement.

But how do we do it? Everything we do in life can be broken down into
thoughts, words, and deeds, and in all of these areas it is important to
learn to put our Lord first. What we do is often the result of what we
say and certainly of what we are thinking, so while our speech is a very
important "sentry" that stands between our actions and our thoughts (and
as such receives close scrutiny in the book of James), it is in our
thinking that we first must address this question of our relationship
with the Lord. Perhaps no one can ever hope to gain complete control
over his/her thoughts, but all of us could do a better job in following
the advice Paul gives us (Rom.12:1-2; Eph.4:23):

Therefore since you have been resurrected [positionally] with
Christ, strive for the things above, where Christ is, seated at the
right hand of God. Think on the things above, and not the
things on the earth. For you are already [positionally] dead
[to all that], and your [true] life has been hidden away with Christ
in God. When Christ - our [true] life - is revealed [at the 2nd
Advent], then you too will be revealed in glory (i.e. resurrection).
Colossians 3:1-4

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is
right, whatever if pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable -
if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such
things. Philippians 4:8 NIV

And in this determination to discipline our thinking, to turn it away
from morbid preoccupation with the corruptible things of this world,
with the pointless vanities of this life, the ultimate object of our
thoughts should be the One we love more than life itself, our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ:

Since then we too [like the believers of chapter 11] have such a
large audience of witnesses surrounding us [both men and angels],
let us put off every hindrance - especially whatever sins habitually
affect us - and run with endurance the race set before us,
turning our gaze unto Jesus, the originator and completer of
our faith, who, for the joy set before Him, endured the shame of the
cross, treating it with despite, and took His seat at the right hand
of the throne of God. Keep in mind all the terrible opposition He
endured against Himself at the hands of sinful men, so as not to
grow sick at heart and give up.
Hebrews 12:1-3

This cannot be done in a vacuum, of course. We need to deploy all of
the resources that God has graciously given us in this fight: along with
our will, our heart, our emotions, our intellect, we can pray, we can
read our Bibles, we can make even more use of the opportunities we have
been given to learn about His truth through substantive teaching, and to
minister His truth through the various gifts and ministries with which
we have been entrusted. And we can do a better job of all of this day by
day. We can learn to pray in a more focused fashion, to read our Bibles
in a more motivated way, to listen to teaching more attentively, to
serve the Lord more aggressively and enthusiastically.

Often, when we "feel" that we are not close enough to Him it is a
symptom of other things. Perhaps we have allowed ourselves to become a
bit more lackadaisical in our approach to the Christian life than we
should (this is an occupational hazard for all Christians), or perhaps
we want to accelerate the pace and better the place we are at in our
relationship with Him (this should be a universal desire for all
Christians). But it is important to remember that emotion follows in
this process rather than leading, and that while the lack of it may be
an indication of a problem or of an as yet unfulfilled potential, the
solution is NOT to concentrate on emotion or emotional response. When we
are truly giving our heart over to Him in the study of, the meditation
on, and the application of His Word, all the blessings of joy and
comfort He has for us will flow out in a blessed right and righteous
way. No amount of effort to generate emotional response apart from the
truth and substance of the Word can ever do this. Why? Because
ultimately what we want is to know Jesus better, to walk more closely
with Him, to experience His peace, and to enter into His vineyard
helping our brothers and sisters in Jesus do likewise. All of these
things are fundamentally and inextricably connected to knowing,
understanding, appreciating, living and breathing His Word - for He is
"The Word of God".

I hope this will provide a bit of guidance and a start in your noble
quest and endeavor. Please do not hesitate to write me back about any of
this.

In the One who is our all in all, in whom we rejoice with joy
inexpressible, waiting eagerly and patiently for the day when we will be
with Him forever, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Bob L.

Question #2:

Dr. Luginbill,

Do you have any writings on Worshiping in Spirit and in Truth. How do we
do that literally? It seems that many of the churches are using
entertainment worship, which seems to be directed towards us rather than
God in Christ.

Response #2:

This is, of course, a quote from John 4:23, which refers to the
necessity of ministry of the Spirit to understand and learn the truth of
the Word of God – it can't be done otherwise. Worshiping "in [the]
Spirit and in truth" is therefore what true worshipers do
(as opposed to unbelievers for whom the things of God are “foolishness”:
1Cor.2:14), and true worship, the appreciation and response of believers
to the truth depends upon this circular process of hearing,
understanding, and believing the truth through the aid of the Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is thus essential to our learning of any biblical truth,
and always has been. But while in the past He was "with us", He is now
also "in us" (Jn.14:17). This indwelling of the Spirit has made the
process of learning the truth for all believers who set themselves to
this primary task of spiritual growth much more effective (1Cor.2:12;
cf. Jesus words in your context about the day of such true worship being
“close at hand”). The Spirit testifies and teaches our spirit (Rom.8:16;
1Cor.2:12; 1Jn.2:20; 2:27). This is why we cannot be discerned by the
world (1Cor.2:14) – our learning process is a supernatural one. Truth is
of God, and the Spirit is the "Spirit of truth" (Jn.14:17). Thus there
is an inseparable relationship between the Spirit who teaches the truth
and the truth which the Spirit teaches. "Epistemology", as it is
technically called, is for the Christian a very simple thing and does
not require reams of philosophical treatises to understand and explain (pace
all such reams in the medieval "church fathers" and philosophers).
Simply put, when we are exposed to the truth, truth of any kind and in
any format (i.e., observation of the night sky and recognition of our
finiteness and God's immensity; Bible teaching in church, on the radio,
in books, on the internet; our own Bible reading; conversations about
the truth of scripture with friends and family; etc.), it is the Holy
Spirit who enables our spirit to understand that truth, thus
circumventing and "cutting out" the corrupt natural world and our own
corrupt natures in the process. Thus true Holy Spirit epistemology
recognizes that no matter how smart or how dull we may be in terms of
the shells we now occupy, every spirit is capable of all the spiritual
growth that it is willing to receive through the grace of God and the
gracious ministry of the Spirit.

As to your specific question, God meets us more than half-way in all of
these things. If we are willing, He is much more so. He wants us to grow
as much as we can, and will surely help us abundantly whenever we make a
commitment to do so. Worshiping in Spirit and truth is 1) being led by
the Spirit (i.e., responsiveness to God and His calling, His agenda not
ours); 2) being spiritual and not carnal (i.e., being in a state of
fellowship with our Lord, not nursing sins, but having confessed them);
3) being genuinely interested and appropriately enthusiastic about the
truth of the Word of God (i.e., not hyper-emotionalism but truly
appreciating that His Word is the most important thing in this world).
It is only from this solid foundation that we can truly appreciate who
Jesus is and what He has done for us and respond to Him in an
appropriate way. Worshiping in Spirit and truth is not 1)
being motivated by various selfish interests (i.e., there are all sorts
of reasons why people go to church or want to look religious that have
nothing to do with responding to God); 2) being carnal and not spiritual
(i.e., if we are in rebellion against God, no amount of truth is going
to be able to penetrate until we repent and confess); 3) perfunctory
religiosity (i.e., mere rote and ritual apart from the power of the
Spirit teaching our responsive spirits).

The religious people of Jesus' day were big on "worship". The temple
cult and the paraphernalia developed to embellish it were a most
impressive sight by all contemporary accounts (cf. Flavius Josephus).
They indulged in great shows of their religiosity, even as they covered
up their true carnality (as every reader of the gospels knows full
well). Jesus points us back to the two, true elements of worship: 1)
seeking God's truth, and 2) operating in the power of the Spirit. Only
by putting learning about God in first place, and doing so by responding
with a supple conscience to all the promptings of the Spirit, can we
fulfill Jesus' words here in John 4:23, "worshiping in Spirit and in
truth".

Finally, I fully agree with your take on contemporary "worship" in most
churches. Why do gather together in the first place if not for mutual
encouragement (Heb.10:24-25) – and to be effective, whether it comes
from the pulpit, or the table, or conversation with fellow believers, it
has to be based on the Word of God. Therefore the teaching of the Word
of God is the primary objective of all corporate worship (because that
is that is the life-spring whence all true encouragement and the
spiritual motivation to provide and receive it flow). As you suggest,
ancillary things have come to the point of replacing the one really
important thing, namely, learning about God through His Word of truth in
the power of the Spirit. But we are under no obligation to follow
blindly into the same ditch. Let us drink deeply of the new and powerful
wine of the undiluted Word of God empowered by the Spirit, being careful
not to waste it by trying to pour into old skins incapable of receiving
it. See also: